


Fall like Fire

by thisstarvingartist



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: A bit of kissing at the end, Fluff, Hale fire but not the one you're thinking of, Hurt/Comfort, It's pretty fluffy, M/M, Not as fluffy as my other one though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-27
Updated: 2013-06-27
Packaged: 2017-12-16 07:33:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/859527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisstarvingartist/pseuds/thisstarvingartist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a fire at the Hale house.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fall like Fire

**Author's Note:**

> So my first Teen Wolf fic is something actually kind of old. I wrote the first half a few months ago, then finished it up a few days ago because I'm super bored and for some reason feel creative. I hope you like the mildly angsty fluff, you guys. <3

Fire. Burning. Suffocating. Blinding. Stiles stumbled blindly through the erratic heat of the burning building, flames licking at his heels as he searched for an escape. He didn’t know when the fire had started. One minute he had been standing alongside Scott and Allison as Derek and his pack discussed the next full moon, and the next…Derek’s childhood home was on fire for the second time in less than a decade, flames consuming the building in minutes.  Or seconds. Or hours. Stiles had lost all sense of time as his world came crashing down around him in ashes that scorched his skin and smoke that filled his lungs so tightly he thought they would explode. His vision had almost completely failed him. He couldn’t so much as remember what floor he was on when the fire had stared.

“Scott!” Stiles screamed, his voice almost lost in the overpowering roar of the fire around him. “Allison!”

Stiles coughed violently, tasting iron, the deafening sounds of groaning wood and crackling flames bursting his eardrums as he clawed at what little wall space wasn’t already overtaken in flames.

“Derek!” Stiles sobbed, tripping over a fallen column and falling to his knees. “Someone help me! Please help me!”

Suddenly, a cold, firm hand grasped Stiles’ arm, yanking him to his feet. Another hand latched onto his sleeve and dragged him past the flames, thrusting him through a door and slamming it shut. Stiles couldn’t recognize his savior right away; his vision was blurred with soot and tears and his ears were still ringing. He knew, however, that they weren’t out yet. They were somewhere dark, somewhere safe for the moment, but he could still sense the fire consuming the walls around them, and the crackle of the flames hadn’t faded.

“Stiles! Look at me!” Finally, Stiles looked up to see Derek’s fierce blue eyes penetrating his dark brown ones. His hands still gripped Stiles fiercely, tightening as Stiles’ knees turned into water and he felt himself breaking down again.

“Stiles! Keep it together, come on!” Derek shouted in his face, pulling the human to his feet.

“Derek, how are we going to get out?” Stiles asked, grasping the older man’s hands to keep himself steady.

“I don’t know, but you have to stay calm,” Derek ordered, just as a burst of flame fired through a wormhole in the door. Stiles cried aloud, tightening his grip on Derek’s hands. They were warming, but definitely chilled. He had been outside. He had been outside, but came back to save Stiles.

“Look at me!” Derek demanded, pulling his hands away and grabbing Stiles’ head, pulling him close and looking into his eyes intensely. “I will get you out of here. But you have to trust me. Stiles, I’ll get you out of here, I swear.”

“Don’t say that,” Stiles whimpered. His body shook with sobs but he had nothing left to cry with. “Don’t say ‘ _you’_. _We_ will get out of here, Derek. Please say we will. Please.”

Derek said nothing.

As if he knew he was sacrificing himself to protect Stiles.

Silly, stupid, crying Stiles.

Another flame shot through the door, making Stiles scream again. Forgetting who he was standing with, he threw his arms around the Alpha, burying his head into his chest and trembling with fear. Derek didn’t try to hit him, or throw him away. He didn’t force Stiles to look at him and tell him that he would be okay, because they both knew now that it was all a lie. Slowly, Derek lowered Stiles’ shuddering body to the floor, and fearful that the werewolf would attempt to leave him, he tightened his grip, burrowing his head deeper into Derek’s chest.

It was softer than he had expected. Although he’d never really expected to be burying his face into the barrel chest of an Alpha, much less Derek, as they laid in the grime and soot of a burning building, waiting for death. But despite this, it felt somewhat nice to have his head in Derek’s chest. There was a divot in it, almost like it was made for Stiles’ head, where he could listen to Derek’s calm, soothing heartbeat and still breathe him in.

Derek smelled good. He smelled very good. It took Stiles a moment to realize that their fingers were intertwined together, his long, awkward fingers bound with Derek’s strong, slightly furry ones.

Despite the fact that they were slowly suffocating to death and about to be burned alive, despite the fact that the last time they’d had a conversation just the two of them Derek had threatened Stiles’ life at least twice, Stiles decided that there were much worse ways to die.

At least he could die with Derek being the last thing he ever smelled.

\--

To Scott, the twelve minutes it took for the police and fire department to arrive passed almost in slow motion.

He remembered Derek’s ears perking at an unusual hissing noise outside of the building, and then the smell of fire as the house was abruptly set aflame. He became detached from the situation. He had to stay calm. Get Allison out. Call the police. Stay calm. Help the other wolves out. Help Derek keep everyone together. Stay calm. He didn’t realize that Stiles was missing for a long time. Too long. Allison wouldn’t let him go back into the fire. She and the other wolves held him back. But no one was strong enough to stop Derek. He threw himself back into the fiery doorway. He didn’t come back. Then the police arrived. The sirens were loud, almost as loud as the fire. Scott came back after that, when Sheriff Stilinski came rushing past the others, grabbing him by the shoulders and turning him around.

“Where’s Stiles?” Sheriff Stilinski shouted, his eyes wide with fear. “Where’s my son?” Scott tried to stay calm. But Stiles was still inside, and there was nothing else to think about. The fire department extinguished the fire in minutes, but there was almost nothing left. Nothing but ash and charcoal. Scott and Sheriff Stilinski immediately were clawing through the rubble, desperate for a sign of their boy. For Stiles. He had to be alive, he was Stiles. He couldn’t just die. He was Stiles.

“I found them!” One of the firemen called from opposite the house. Scott and Sheriff Stilinski were at his side in an instant. And Stiles was balled up, cocooned in Derek’s arms, both covered in grime, both silent and motionless. Scott’s universe imploded for a moment, then Stiles’ hand twitched.

“They’re alive!” The fireman shouted to the paramedics, who were already sprinting their way. Sheriff Stilinski grabbed Stiles, pulling him out of the debris, pulling him out of Derek’s arms.

“NO!” Stiles shrieked, his voice shrill from the smoke. He fought out of his father’s grip, falling back on top of Derek and grabbing at him desperately. “Derek, Derek, please come back, Derek, please, Derek…”

Slowly, Derek’s eyes opened. He sat up, barely staying upright as Stiles threw himself back on him, burying his head into the big Alpha’s chest and crying deeply. Scott expected him to growl or punch Stiles. But he just hugged him back and said nothing, and when the paramedics arrived no matter what Scott or Sheriff Stilinski said, Stiles wouldn’t let go of Derek’s hand.

\--

It was fall and the leaves were bright yellow and red, sprinkling the floor and crunching under every step that Derek and Stiles took as they walked leisurely through the trees. Stiles was ranting endlessly about schoolwork, tests, the lacrosse game later that week, and Derek nodded silently, watching the boy as he spoke with his arms and hands and shoulders, his wide mouth turned upwards in a soothing, ridiculous smile. Derek let himself smile, too; he hadn’t done that in a long, long time. It always felt wrong, like he was doing something his family would hate, but when he was with Stiles, it felt okay. It felt okay.

“So what have you been up to?” Stiles asked finally, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking up at Derek expectantly. Derek shrugged.

“Nothing much,” He said, “I’ve been thinking about the house. You know, it’s pretty much nothing but ash now.”

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded, frowning. Derek frowned too. He didn’t want to make Stiles’ smile go away, he hated when that happened.

“I’m thinking about rebuilding it,” Derek explained, looking down at the forest floor. “Give the Betas a place to roam, you know? It was the pack’s home for years when I was a kid. It would be nice to have it like that again.”

“Yes!” Stiles exclaimed, his face brightening again. Derek let out a silent sigh of relief and smiled back. “I love that idea! All the little puppies curled up on the couch for movie night, I love it! And you’re all super strong so it shouldn’t take that long at all, right? Plus it’ll be a great bonding experience for you.”

“Yeah,” Derek nodded, but his smile was gone. Stiles elbowed him gently, looking worried.

“What’s wrong, Derek?”

“Nothing. I just… you don’t seem to want to help.” Derek said. Stiles laughed.

“Well obviously I won’t be much help building the house! Have you ever seen me with a hammer? It’s a nightmare. But don’t you think that I won’t be there for every movie night, wedged between Scott’s snuggly butt and your big ol’ Alpha arms.” He blushed, smiling at the ground. “I mean, you know, if that’s cool.”

“It’s more than…” Derek started, then a root snaked out from behind a pile of leaves and Stiles was thrown over the hill with a surprised shriek. Derek grabbed onto his hoodie, but was dragged along as well, and they rolled together to the bottom with Stiles laughing the whole way. He landed with a thud that sent a pile of leaves spiraling around them, and Derek looked down at Stiles’ smiling, laughing face.

He smiled too, sitting on top of the human and just breathing in the smells of home, fall leaves, of Stiles. He leaned down, pressed their lips together.

Stiles’ laughter stopped, and he brought his hands up to cup Derek’s face as they pressed together, breathing each other in. Derek brushed his tongue on Stiles’ lips and they opened welcomingly, and he explored the warm wetness that was Stiles’ mouth with gentle fervor, until they both let go and breathed in the cool air and stared into each other’s eyes.

“Yeah, I don’t think Scott would like it that much if we did that during movie night,” Stiles laughed, but the way his hands ran gently through Derek’s hair made it evident that he didn’t care.

“He can suffer,” Derek said, and rested another kiss on Stiles lips before helping him to his feet and walking out of the forest with him, hand in hand.


End file.
